Jadera: Tales of a Dragonslayer
by jetonna
Summary: Jadera finds herself in Zaibachs military, and an opening to a new group called the dragonslayers... headed by a general whose name is Dilandau...
1. Beginnings

Chapter one:  
  
  
A/N: Jaden is pronounced Jay-don, and Jadera is Ja-deer-ah. Also, I   
happen to switch between Jadera and Jaden when I write this, so please   
don't become too confused.  
  
  
Jadera breathed in as she concentrated. Being a disguised girl as a boy   
in the Zaibach army didn't help. A 13 year old girl that was a little   
taller than average with short dark blue navy hair that fell over her   
face hiding a violet eye, she'd jumped up and taken the chance, joining   
the army as Jaden, an orphaned boy who had just wanted to fight against   
those that had killed his parents. This was wartime, after all. So far,   
no one had suspected, but she'd been getting some trouble lately. A   
group of boys, all older, maybe 15 or 16 had set their eyes on her. She   
could feel them watching her as she sparred on the training field. She   
ducked a blow, and dealt one of her own, knocking the sword of her   
opponent out of his hands. She knew what would happen when she was   
done, but luckily she'd been able to escape them so far. Annoyed at her   
disguise that still let a little of her feminine beauty out, she   
literally was a bishounen, something she'd *not* planned on happening.   
A little disgusted at the attitude of those boys, she'd ignored them as   
long as she could.  
  
  
"Good fight." She said to the boy she'd been sparring with. She didn't   
remember his name, as she didn't know him. She looked out onto the   
field, hoping to spot Miguel, a boy that she'd befriended. Known to   
most of the boys as a cold, unemotional person, only Miguel had been   
brave enough to try and break that wall down, and had found a loyal and   
trusting friend. Only warm to those that knew her, Jadera, -or Jaden   
put up a cold unemotional face out to the world. Brightening as she   
found him, sparring against… Dar. She unconsciously clenched her teeth.   
Dar was a rather annoying boy she couldn't stand, and though he was not   
with the group of boys, he too, was trying to advance on her. She'd had   
enough of boys. At least women didn't act this way!  
  
  
"Jaden," a voice called, breaking her out of her thoughts. "Come here."   
It was her trainer, General Sloviny.  
  
  
"Sir?" she asked, saluting him smartly.  
  
  
"Very well done, child. Your skill has improved. I have asked General   
Dilandau to look at you. I hear that there are new positions available,   
on a team called the Dragonslayers. It is managed by him, and I was   
wondering if you were interested." He said.  
  
  
"Sir!" she replied.  
  
  
"I thought as much. You will meet Dilandau tomorrow. Dismissed."   
Saluting, Jadera turned away, slightly excited at the prospect of   
actually serving under someone. So, Dilandau. That was his name.  
  
As Jaden walked back onto the training field, he noticed the absence of   
people. Suspicious, he turned around in a full circle until he saw   
Gratis and his clique. Stiffening, he clenched his teeth and forced   
himself to relax.  
  
  
"What do you want?" he asked frosty, low and soft voice. Jadera only   
used this voice when she was extremely annoyed or she was trying to   
warn people not to mess with her. Although she was a girl, Jadera was   
stronger than any, and was able to easily overpower others; and with   
her sword she was deadly in a fight, as she had much skill. She   
however, wasn't sure if she could have been able to take this group.   
They were all big for 15 and 16, and there were six of them in a group.  
"We," said Gratis, looking back at the others, "just want to have some   
fun. Don't we boys?" They had been advancing slowly and Jadera found   
herself backing up, ever so slowly, in time with their steps, and   
cursed to herself when she felt her back hit the exercise wall; you   
were supposed to scale it and continue down the other side on a rope   
that came from the top and went to the ground. Gratis and the others   
were coming forward, and Jadera knew she didn't have a lot of options   
left. Mentally, she flipped and coin. And bolted. Running, she sprinted   
past the group, to have someone reach out and try to grab her. They   
missed, but Jadera fell to the ground when Gratis followed and tackled   
her. Straddling her, her hands were stuck at her side between Gratis's   
knees and her body. Stiffening when he reached out and drew his hand   
down the side of her face, she spit contemptuously at him. He wiped it   
off, his eyes darkened.  
  
  
"You will regret that," he hissed, "I'll make sure of it". He said, and   
slapped her.  
  
  
"Touch me again and die." Jadera countered. Gratis laughed.  
  
  
"You have no place to make threats at me, Jaden." He said, amused.  
  
  
"We'll see about that," Jadera hissed. Inside, she was beginning to   
grow afraid. If someone didn't come out looking for her, Gratis would   
be getting an incredible shock. And there would be no reason for her to   
live…  
  
  
The sound of a slap and the sudden weight of Gratis off of her brought   
her back to the present. In front of her, there was a boy, maybe 14   
that stood in front of her. He wore red armor, unlike any she'd seen   
before. Gratis stood up, wiping off the blood.  
  
  
"Who the hell are you?" he snarled.  
  
  
"What does it matter to you?" the boy answered. He had short silvery   
hair, and was a little taller than a boy of his age.  
  
  
"Learn to respect your elders, boy," Gratis said. "I asked you a   
question."  
  
  
"Well, then, you should learn to respect your superiors, soldier." He   
answered back. "I don't want to see any of this happen again. This   
disrespect is already enough to get you punished, but I feel a little   
lenient today."  
  
  
"Yeah? And who are you?" challenged Gratis.  
  
  
"My name is General Dilandau." the boy replied, although albeit rather   
testily, as if he were losing patience. Gratis's eyes for the first   
time shone with a hint of fear. Jadera's though, lit up. Dilandau! So   
this was her new -if he accepted her, her new General.  
  
  
"Y-yes sir," he said.  
  
  
"Step forward," Dilandau said. Gratis complied, and was knocked   
violently to the ground, where he lay cowering. "Stand up." And he did,   
shaking.   
  
  
"I don't want to ever see this again, do you understand?" Dilandau   
said.  
  
  
"Yes sir." Gratis said dully.  
  
  
"Good. Go." And Gratis scrambled away, his friends trailing along   
behind him.  
  
  
"Now, stand up." Jadera looked up to see Dilandau with a hand offered.   
She gratefully took it, and stood.  
  
  
"What's your name?" asked Dilandau. He'd been on his way to see if he   
could find a soldier named Jaden. General Sloviny had praised him a   
huge deal, and he had wanted good people on his team of dragonslayers,   
not incompetent nincompoops from just now.  
  
  
"Jaden, sir." Jadera replied, not looking at him but at his feet.  
  
  
"Jaden, it's very nice to meet you. General Sloviny talks very highly   
about you, by the way. So, you wish to join my dragonslayers?" Dilandau   
asked.  
  
  
"Yes sir." Jadera replied.  
  
  
"Stop looking at my feet, and maybe try concentrating at my face   
instead. It's rather unnerving for me when I keep on seeing people's   
hair and not their face." Dilandau chastised her.  
  
  
"Yes sir." Jadera said, bringing up her head until she looked him in   
the eye. He had red eyes, she reflected.  
  
  
"Ahh. Come with me," Dilandau said, " and just call me Dilandau."  
  
  
"Yes, Dilandau sir." Jadera said, falling in step behind him.  
  
  
Jadera walked into the dorm room that she shared with Miguel, excited.  
  
  
"Hey, Jaden, you look really happy or something," Miguel said.  
  
  
"You bet! I just met Dil-, I mean General Dilandau today! And I'll   
probably get to be in his dragonslayers!" Jadera replied, excited.  
  
  
"Wow! What are they?" Miguel asked.  
  
  
"It's a new group. The funny thing is, Dilandau-sama is only like, two   
years older than me! But he's pretty nice, and kind of strict, I'd say.   
You should have seen him! Gratis -oh, that reminds me, I have to go   
beat him up. Anyway, Gratis and his gang kind of… well lets say they   
took a sudden interest in me, and Dilandau-sama showed up and threw him   
off, not to mention that that incident probably zeroed any chances for   
Gratis getting into the dragonslayers." She said, flashing Miguel a   
rare smile. "Hey, you could probably join, too."  
  
  
"Do you really think so?" asked Miguel, excited. "Then we could still   
be together! I'd be disappointed if we were split up."  
  
  
"Yeah, well- " Jadera started, but was interrupted by the lights going   
out. "Well, I'd say it was time for lights out, won't you say?" Inside,   
Jadera was grateful that it was time for bed, because she knew she   
couldn't risk Miguel seeing her. She'd been able to avoid him so far,   
but if she ever got caught…   
  
  
As Jadera settled in for the night, she wondered about how serving   
under Dilandau would be. She already admired him, anyway, and she   
wanted to prove herself to someone. Her swordsmanship was excellent,   
and she just needed to brush up on her guymelef piloting skills.   
Tomorrow would be a long day…  
  



	2. Default Chapter Title

Chapter two:  
  
A/N: I will begin to use more Japanese from now on.  
  
Jadera woke up slowly, and found herself looking into Miguel's grinning face.  
  
"Ohiyo, Jaden! You're up a little later than usual… or am I just early?" he asked grinning at her.  
  
"Shut up," she said, sitting up, rubbing her eyes. "What time is it?"  
  
"Uhh… 7:30." He replied, "Were you supposed to do something?"   
  
"What?" Jadera said, totally awake, "I'm supposed to… Ahh! I have to be down at the training field at 8! I'm going to be late!" She jumped past Miguel, and in a whirlwind grabbed clothes and flew to the washroom. A few minutes later, she opened the door, and raced downstairs for a quick breakfast.  
  
  
Jaden arrived at the training field, just a little out of breath. He'd gotten there with 5 minutes to spare, so he'd settled down with some exercises. Dilandau and Sloviny were supposed to arrive, as Dilandau wanted to see Jaden's combat skills, not to mention his endurance and so on. This was a kind of… audition, or test. Jaden wasn't quite so sure, but he was ready to face whatever came. He was beginning some easy exercises when the generals arrived.  
  
"So, Jaden, ready for your test?" Sloviny asked. Internally he hoped that the boy would pass, Jaden was advanced and very smart. Sloviny thought that Jaden would do best in a close circuit group like Dilandau's, and had told Dilandau so.  
  
"Yes sir!" Jaden said confidently.  
  
"We'll begin with a match between you and I," Dilandau said, "and after that, we'll see."  
  
"Hai, Dilandau-sama. Shall we begin?" Jaden asked, unsheathing his sword. Dilandau did the same, and they both walked around a little and settled themselves, facing each other. Jaden tensed, anticipating a charge, but from Dilandau's body language, he could tell that he was waiting for him. Shifting his weight very slightly, Jaden drew his sword up, and charged. Dilandau swung his sword up, and the swords met with a clash, steel on steel. Leaning forward, then bouncing back off, Jaden turned and swung again, only to find that Dilandau had blocked it. However, Jaden never stayed in a position very long, and was always moving. Swinging again, the swords clashed again, and Jaden quickly drew away, surprising Dilandau a little bit, and turned around, and swung again, his target this time Dilandau's sword, except where it was very near to the hilt, and Dilandau's hand. Not anticipating this, Dilandau had very little time to prepare. However, he managed to move his arm, bringing up his sword, and steel bit steel once again. Separating, they stood, panting a little from the exertion.  
  
"I must admit -you are better than I thought you were, Jaden." Dilandau said approvingly.  
  
"Thank you sir," Jaden replied, "but I still have to beat you." Dilandau smiled, then charged again. Their swords clashed, and separated yet again. They were moving so quickly that they were blurs, and General Sloviny smiled to see Jaden performing so well. Also, the fight had begun to attract spectators, and several of the trainees gathered around to watch the fight. They could not, however really get a glimpse of the two fighting except when they paused every so often. Miguel caught his breath when he saw the people sparring. Internally, he hoped that Jaden would win, as that would most definitely prove him talented enough to join Dilandau. Silently rooting for his friend, he watched.  
  
  
Jaden was tiring, and he knew Dilandau was too. However, he managed to keep his thoughts focused on the fight, and pressed on harder, renewing the fight with more vigor and energy.  
Dilandau was very impressed, not that he would have told anyone, but the way that Jaden was fighting was very good, almost near his skill. Blocking another attack, he rushed forward, but his attack was blocked. When Jaden whisked away again, Dilandau tried to keep track of his movements, but cursed when he found that his trail of vision was falling behind a little. This boy was very good. Their swords met once again, but Jaden, instead of leaning forward into it as usual, he stepped back, and twirled, moving his sword. In what seemed like slow motion, Jaden saw the series of events that happened. He saw his sword moving, in a wide arc, and how it came across and made contact with Dilandau's. And, almost like a dream, he saw how Dilandau could not take the pressure, and his grip was weakened, and then lost. The sword was flung into the air, and Jaden moved his sword to rest it at Dilandau's throat. The crowd was silent, and then, it erupted into cheers. Sloviny stood, a little shocked, but very pleased that it was his pupils', and not anyone else's that had been the first to defeat Dilandau, and was probably going to be the only one. Grinning, he approached the duo in the middle of the cluster of the other trainees.  
  
"So Dilandau, how do you feel?" he asked cheekily.   
  
"Don't rub it in, Sloviny," Dilandau threatened. Then, turning his attention to Jaden, "You're much better than I first thought. You have trained well, good enough to be in my dragonslayers." He complimented Jaden.  
  
"Thank you sir," Jaden said, a faint blush tinting his cheeks.  
  
"Yeah! You were great!" said Miguel as he materialized at her side from the crowd.  
  
"Thanks," Jaden said, "maybe you should try out too, Miguel." Turning to Dilandau, he asked for his friend.  
"Dilandau-sama, would you accept my friend?"   
  
Dilandau looked at Miguel, and said,   
  
"It wouldn't hurt to try, but I'd have to rest and I also do have matters to attend. We'll see later." Crossing the field to reclaim his sword, Dilandau picked it up, and strode out of the training grounds.  
  
"Well done! You have practiced and earned it." Sloviny praised Jaden.   
  
"I knew you could do it."  
  
"Thank you sir." Jaden said.  
  
"Well, you should now go and pick up your uniform. Maybe if you see Dilandau in the halls you could ask, but the fitting room should have some designed for his team already. You can go check." Sloviny advised him. "The faster you get your uniform, the faster you get to move out of here, and maybe find yourself on a floating fortress, perhaps." Sloviny said. "Anyways, well met and done, Jaden."  
  
"Sir!" Jaden, and turned to go, but was a little taken by the size of the crowd. Turning again to Sloviny, he asked, "Sir? Would it be possible to 'sneak' out with you? I don't exactly want to answer any questions right now."  
Sloviny smiled.  
  
"I'd be happy, Jaden. I'll even 'escort' you to the fitting rooms."  
  
"Thank you sir. Hey, Miguel?" Jaden asked, turning his head.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"See you later."  
  
Jadera walked down the halls with General Sloviny, slightly relishing her victory over Dilandau that gave her passage into his dragonslayers. General Sloviny turned to her and said,  
  
"Jaden. I'm extremely pleased at your performance today. You were most definitely ready to move up, and actually start getting more involved. We need people like you in this war, Jaden. You have amazing talent, and it's good to see you taking it far."   
Jadera thought about this, and contemplated the idea for the first time that she would have to leave the General to serve under Dilandau.  
  
"Thinking deep thoughts?" asked Sloviny in an amused tone.  
  
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I was thinking about how I wouldn't really be around you anymore." Jadera replied. Sloviny smiled, then said,  
  
"It's fine. Nothing will happen to me here. Besides, you have learnt all I know from me. I have nothing more to teach you. Yes, you may be skilled, but you need to get out in the world and get your training and experience out there." Jadera smiled back as the words sunk in.  
  
"Thank you sir."  
  
They walked on in silence, and Jadera thought about her training here. True it was hard enough, but now that she was in the Dragonslayers, it was probably going to be even harder. And with a name like "The Dragonslayers", they were probably going to have to take on some Dragons.  
  
"Here we are! The fitting room. I'll see you tomorrow Jaden." Sloviny said, and walked off.  
Jadera looked at the fitting rooms, and decided that with everything going on, she might as well do it tomorrow. She then turned and walked to her room.  



	3. Training

Chapter three: Training and Elimination  
  
  
A/n: To those of you who are reading my new fic, The Second war, NO Van will NOT fall in love with Rebecca, and I have not yet decided to bring Hitomi to Gaea. Now, as for this story, Actually, I already have it all planned to chapter sixteen, now getting off my lazy butt and writing everything is a different matter… Maybe if I felt more compelled to… cough cough review coughcough See, If I don't have a lot of reviews, I don't think people are reading my stories… which is really sad if I discontinue them… And anyway, I promised to have this chapter out by Christmas to someone, so I'm going to keep my word and here it is!  
  
  
  
Jadera fell back onto her bed and yawned. Dragonslayer applications had passed, and thankfully, Miguel had gotten in. Training had been harder than she thought, and it was tiring. She'd made some new friends, and an enemy. She smiled, thinking of Gatti and Chesta. They both were quite cute, and looked similar, except that Gatti was taller and had gray hair while Chesta was quite short and had blond hair. There were twenty-five dragonslayers in all, and so far there was only one…  
Jadera frowned. Thinking of Guimel just brought the scene of their first meeting to her mind. He had been very snobbish (Sorry Guimel Fans!), and rude, putting down Jaden and sneering at Miguel. He acted as though he was of a higher status than the others, and only seemed to listen to Dilandau.  
Jadera sighed. It was such a pity, to encounter such rivalry and competition here. Everyone was just trying to prove to the generals and anyone else that mattered that they were the best soldiers and that was all that mattered to them. A knock broke her out of her thoughts.  
  
"Jaden!" called Miguel from the other side of the door.  
  
"Yeah?" Jadera replied.  
  
"Didn't you hear? We were all called to the training room! I hear that we're gonna do something really cool!" Miguel said excitedly from the other side of the door.  
  
"Coming!" Jadera replied before grabbing her sword and walking out. Outside, she also saw Gatti and Chesta were waiting. They all smiled at each other before bolting off to the training room.  
When they arrived, they saw all the other dragonslayers there, waiting. The foursome joined the other dragonslayers, and soon, everyone was talking and having fun. They all fell silent when Dilandau entered the room though.  
  
"I've decided that there are too many dragonslayers than I have use for." He announced loudly.  
  
"So, just to test which of you are competent enough to remain in the dragonslayers, I've decided to issue a test. You all are to be separated and scattered in the forest, and you must make your way to a certain meeting point. The first fifteen of you that make it there win. The rest of you will be assigned somewhere else. You are only allowed to bring a small allowance of food, a change of clothing, and your sword. Any questions?"  
  
"No, Lord Dilandau." Twenty-five voices intoned.  
  
"Dismissed."  
  
Sorry for the shortness of the chapter peeps! But, it's Christmas, and got the chapter up at least!  
Merry Christmas everyone!  
-reb  



	4. Survival

  
Sorry for not writing at all folks! I just kinda got carried away  
with work and stuff. Well, here is the awaited chapter four!   
However, since no one is really reviewing, I'm not to sure about   
the awaited part though...  
Anyway, on with the fic!  
  
  
  
Chapter Four: Survival  
  
Jadera walked silently around her room, looking for anything that she   
might have wanted to bring with her on her survival test. Her eyes   
alighted on some flint that she'd taken from the kitchen for no reason,  
and she quickly grabbed it and put it in her sack. Looking around,  
she found the steel iron (okay, I kinda forgot what it's called, so   
just bear with me and I'm just going to call it this, okay?) that  
went with it so she would be able to make a fire out in the   
forest. She then laid out her spare uniform to pack and then went   
to the kitchen to grab some food supplies.  
Opening her door, she was greeted by Gatti, who was just raising   
his hand to knock.  
  
"Oh! Hello Gatti. What are you doing here?" Jadera asked.  
  
"Jaden!" Gatti said, surprised. "Oh, um, we were wondering if you  
wanted to come with us to the kitchen."  
  
Jadera looked behind him to see Chesta. She smiled.  
"Sure thing. I was going there myself already anyway."  
  
  
  
They walked into the kitchen and started opening cuboards and drawers,  
looking for the food they would need on their journey.  
  
"Hmm," Gatti said, "it appears that no one has been here yet.   
Nothing's gone."  
  
"That's good." Jaden said. "We'll get first pick on the food."  
  
"I don't know about you guys," Chesta said, looking into the   
utensils drawer, "but I think that some knives would be helpful."  
  
"Are we even allowed to bring that stuff?" Gatti wondered out loud.  
  
"Dunno," Jaden said shrugging. He picked up some jerky and bread,   
a hard block of cheese and an assortment of fruits that wouldn't  
go bad. "How's this?" he asked, showing the other two.  
  
"Nice choice," Chesta said, "but is that all you're gonna bring?"  
  
"Pretty much. It's the bare basics for me. I know how to survive in  
the forest. For me, this is all that I need." Jaden replied.  
  
"Interesting. So you're done?" Gatti asked.  
  
"Yeah. See you later." Jaden said, and walked back to his room.  
  
  
Jadera set the food down on her table and wrapped it nicely in a   
hankerchief (sp?). Sticking a thin blanket and then folding her   
clothes neatly she laid them in a bag (I don't know if they have bags   
in Gaea but in my fic they do.) and put the flint and steel wrapped in  
a cloth on top. Next, she stuck some daggers that she had around them,  
then put the food on top. Closing the bag she walked down   
the hall to Miguel's.  
  
"Hey! Miguel!" She called, knocking on his door.  
  
There were some shuffling sounds coming from inside and then the door   
opened.  
  
"Yeah?" Miguel asked.  
  
"You done packing?" Jadera questioned.  
  
"Yeah. You?" he asked.  
  
"I'm done too. Come on, let's go to the hangar. We're going to be   
leaving soon."  
  
  
  
When they arrived at the hangar, almost all the other dragonslayers  
were there, tense and waiting. Not long after, The General responsible  
for the survival test walked in. He let them off in the forest randomly  
and then flew back to the floating fortress.  
  
  
Jadera sighed to herself, then looked up at the sky.  
  
"Oh shit," she said. The clouds were dark and it was going to rain.  
She quickly set to work building a camp for herself, and made a shelter  
out of tree branches and a couple of logs that she dragged together  
and covered them with leaves and some evergreen-like boughs.  
She had just made a fire and was settling down when it began to rain   
heavily.  
  
"Damn," she moaned, "just when I had the fire going. At least the rain  
isn't coming through the roof of the shelter."  
Sighing heavily, she ate her dinner and leaned back against the wall  
of the shelter, watching the rain fall outside dully.  
  
"At least I'm not wet." she said to herself, then smirked as the   
thought of some of the other dragonslayers that looked as though  
they had absolutely no experience out in the wilderness.  
  
"I wonder how they're doing," she mused. She then sighed as the rain   
seemed to increase even more.  
  
"There's no use doing anything, not with the rain. Might as well get   
some sleep." Taking out her blanket, she spread it out and lay down,   
using her bag as a pillow. Drifting off, she wondered if the rain was  
going to let up anytime soon.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Sorry for the long wait minna, but I was caught up in school work,   
and I'm trying to finish my science... Arg!  
Anyway, I have a surprise coming up in the next chapter... so review!  
-reb 


	5. Marox

The wolf pup whined as it stumbled over yet another tree branch on the forest floor. Picking itself up again, he trailed on through the forest, searching for his deseased mother. Remembering the poachers that had arrived before he was set off by his mother into the forest, he gave a half-growl. He was tired with no energy; he hadn't eaten at all since a little while before the horrible incident yesterday.  
Cocking his ears as he heard the sound of water running, he whined with anticipation. Maybe he could get a fish! Worse to the worse, there would be some water. Energized by adreneline and the thought of food, the pup ran off to the stream.  
  
Jadera yawned as she decided to bathe herself in the stream she camped by yesterday. A little unused to the forest floor, her back ached in some places, and she believed that a stream would fit perfectly, as it had a current that would massage her sore back.  
Manuevering her way to the sound of running water, she took off her clothes and waded in. releaxing and letting the current beat against her sore back, she smiled and closed her eyes, relaxing. A shuffled sound however, made her eyes snap open in a few seconds, and they darted around locating the source of the noise. Turning her head slightly, she looked at what made the noise. On the bank, sat a small wolf pup, obviously scared of her, but for some reason it didn't run away. Turning around cautiously as the pup's mother may be close, she tilted her head and studied the puppy.  
  
The puppy cocked his head as he stared at the human that was in the middle of the stream. Scared, but out of strength he just sat there on the bank as the girl studied him.  
"shhh..." pricking his ears as he heard the sound, he whined.  
"I won't hurt you..." recoiling a little as she came closer, he whined again.  
"poor little puppy... I wonder where your mother is?" Jadera stretched her hand out of the water and brought it towards the puppy with agonizing slowness. Getting braver, the pup leaned forward and sniffed her hand. As the scent was not malicious, and non-threatening, he smelt her hand as she turned it over, and licked it.  
Jadera smiled. Carefully and slowly, to show she meant no harm, she gently patted the pup. Rising out of the water, she waded over to her pile of clothes and dressed. Looking around for the pup. she found it by her heel, smelling her boot.  
"Now then..." as she picked up the puppy, it gave a small bark. She smiled.  
"I think I'll call you Marox."  
  
As Jadera walked through the forest with a full and happy Marox at her heels, she smiled as they covered a mile, then another. Noticing that Marox was falling behind and panting, she stopped and looked at him.  
"Tired?" she said as she bent down to look at him.  
"I guess it /is/ a little far for you, you poor thing. Here, have some more jerky." As soon as Marox finished his snack, she picked him up and cradled him, continuing with her journey.  
  
Entering yet another clearing, she was surprised to find remains of a camp, recently broken up. Looking around carefully, she walked quickly through, aware that another prescence was close in the forest. Slowing her pace as she became more stealthy, bent and let Marox down to the ground. Taking another step, she was suddenly surprised to find a sword at her neck.  
"Jaden?!" the sword's owner exclaimed. Looking up the length of the sword to the person's face she replied,  
"Nice to see you too, Gatti."  
  
"So, who's this little fellow again?" Gatti asked as they proceeded through the forest.  
Jaden smiled as he answered.  
"This little guy here is Marox, and he stumbled onto me while I was taking a bath. I decided to keep him... he may be useful to me later on."  
"Heh, if I didn't know what I know about you know, Jaden, I would say that 'wow, he actually has a heart'."  
Jaden smirked, and asked,  
"Am I really that cold?"  
"Sometimes... it's a little freaky, but when I got to know you I realized that you were really normal, just like the rest of us... you just wanted to test people to make sure they were sincere, that's all." Gatti said, his face in an expression of thought.  
They walked in silence for a while, each with his own thoughts.  
"Hey, isn't that the clearing?" Jaden asked, abruptly changing the subject. Gatti looked up.  
"Hey!" he exclaimed, "it is!" He started running for the clearing while Jaden folled at a more sedate pace, with Marox at his heels.  
  
Chesta and Miguel were talking to some other soon-to-be slayers when a voice piped up and caught their attention.  
"Hey, this a private party or can anyone else join?" Chesta looked up and was pleased to find that it was Gatti. Looking a little behind him, he recognized Jaden walking into the clearing.  
"Hey Gatti, hey Jaden, glad you made it." He greeted them. Miguel looked and saw the wolf pup that Jaden found.   
"Are they gonna let you keep that, Jaden?" he asked worriedly. Jaden looked at him and replied,  
"Oh, you mean Marox? I dunno, but if not then I'll sneak him on the vione." Jaden replied, casually glancing down at Marox.  
"So, how many of us made it here so far?" he asked.  
"Well, let's see... there's you, me, Gatti, Chesta, Viole -he's the guy with the purple hair, Dallet -he's the guy with the long brown hair, Jod -he has brown hair too, Aleph -the one with silver hair like mine, Schin -he's got brown hair too, Resh -Blonde hair, Koph -black hair, Poru -blue hair, Ain -purple hair too and lastly, Samech, that guy over there with brown hair." Miguel said, pointing out each boy to his friend.  
Jaden nodded, thinking.  
"Doesn't this mean that there's only one more guy coming?" he asked suddenly.  
"Hey! You're right!" Miguel exclaimed. "I wonder who it'll be...?"  
  
"SO glad to see I made it," a somewhat snobbish voice puntured the air. Jaden rolled his eyes and said,  
"It just had to be him..."  
  
  
  
  
  
MWAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!! I have returned! Sorry for keeping everyone waiting so long, but kinda forgot about this story and I encountered a small writers block. Sorry, for the long wait, but I'm back, and I'll be writing!  
-reb 


	6. Dragonslaying

... blah blah blah ... equals thoughts, or else -// blah blah blah //-   
nande k'so= what the hell  
shimatta= shit  
k'so= swear word of your choice (e.g. fuck, shit, etc)  
baka= idiot  
  
  
"Oh brother, /WHY/ did it have to be Guimel as the last one?" Jadera moaned to herself back at in her room at the Vione. Marox was currently lying on her bed, sleeping.  
"/ANY/ other person would have done!" she complained. "Him and his snottish pride, I'd just /LOVE/ to wipe that smirk off his face... ARG! ...DAMNIT!"   
Jadera was in a fit, whining and complaining to herself about Guimel. Pissed at his outragous behaviour towards her, she was in a rant after keeping silence for so long, her patience wearing down.  
A knock on her door interrupted her.  
"This better be good," she mutterred under her breath, before raising her voice.  
"Yeah? Come in," she said. The door opened, and Miguel poked his head in, with a somewhat excited look on his face.  
"Guess what! Guess what!" he asked, jumping a little in his impatience to tell her.  
"What?" asked Jadera with a curious look on her face... nothing had happened ever since the 'elimination' of 10 dragonslayers, and she was getting bored.  
"I asked you to guess," Miguel said, pouting a little. Jadera almost laughed; Miguel was like a child when he did that.  
"Okay, okay," she surrendered, rolling her eyes. "Let's see... Lord Dilandau wishes /our/ prescence, the oh so /mighty/ and /strong/ dragonslayers to assemble in his throne room, so he can order us to go on a /manhunt/ for some spy or traitor, to protect the /great/ and /glorious/ Zaibach Empire." she said, acting and exaggerating each stressed word. Miguel burst out laughing at her antics and said,  
"Well, you're halfway right, at least... we're going to test our new guymelefs that Lord Folken designed, and we're going... Dragon Hunting."  
Jadera stopped the second she heard 'dragon'.  
"Dragon Hunting? Are you serious Miguel?" Her desbelieving eyes met his.  
"Yeah," he said. "Dragons. Looks like it's going to get a little more interesting."  
  
The hangar door opened, and Jadera stared up at her new navy blue guymelef in awe. Her eyes trailing over the black frame finishings, the fire-repellant metal dyed navy, and the stealth cloak. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see the other dragoslayers admiring Folken's work on their own guymelefs as well. Shaking her head, she climbed up the front and into the pilots seat. Pushing a button, the hatch closed and it began to fill with liquid metal all the way to her neck. Gently she grabbed the joystick and touched some more buttons. Her guymelef stood, and took a step.  
"Wow," she said. The unit, alseides, was sensitive, responding to every slight movement. Looking through the faceplate, she noticed that most of the other dragonslayers had gained control of their guymelefs and were standing like she was.  
"Miguel, Jaden, flank my right! Gatti, Chesta, flank left! The rest of you, fall behind in formation!" Dilandau ordered. He too, had an Alseides, only his was red. Everyone moved into position, and stood there, ready.  
"Flight mode!" Dilandau said. Jadera pushed a few buttons, and heard the grinding of gears as her stealth cloak came and covered her front, the legs melded together and engines whined as she lifted off, hovering to the left of Miguel. Without a word, Dilandau pushed forward and dropped of the Vione's hangar, and they all followed.  
  
They landed heavily and the ground shook, feeling the impact of 16 guymelefs hitting the ground at roughly the same time. Suddenly, Dilandau's guymelef disappeared.  
"What?" was the startled gasp that fell from about nine of the dragonslayers mouths. However, Miguel, Jaden, Chesta, Gatti, Dallet, Viole and Guimel all remained silent. After all, /they/ did their reading on the alseides, and knew about the unit's stealth cloaks.   
The next thing that Jadera knew, a crima claw stretched out and formed a heavy sword, then disappeared. Acting on instinct, she too, activated her crima claw and created a sword. Miguel, Gatti and Chesta mimicked her, each creating a sword from their crima claws. Jadera had a feeling that they were being tested again. Suddenly, without warning, the sword that was created by Dilandau swung and hit several of the more ignorant dragonslayers. Jadera's eyes widened a little as three more dragonslayer fell, knocked over by Dilandau.  
...So, he /is/ testing us...  
"Miguel, Gatti, Chesta! Bunch into a circle with our backs in, faces out!" she yelled.  
"Should we cloak?" asked Dallet as he pulled into another circle with Viole and Guimel; the three finally forming crima swords at last.  
"No, you idiot! That way we only have one opponent! If there's more than one stealth cloaked, we won't be able to tell whether it's you or Lord Dilandau!" Jadera answered back roughly. They waited in silence as Dilandau felled the rest of the other dragonslayers.   
Jadera watched the trees carefully. It would appear as a flicker of movement -nothing more. If she missed it, it would take her a long time again to -there! Quickly bringing up her other arm, she blasted five crima claws at the small ripple of movement. A sword suddenly appeared, and blocked her blow, but the others were now alerted as to where their General was. They too, blasted crima claws that were deflected. Jadera waited while the others all tried again, waiting for the right moment... now! She fired again, and this time it met her mark. Dilandau lowered his stealth cloak.  
"Stop," he commanded. "The test is over."  
  
They were trekking through the forest now, heading to a dragon-populated area. After checking on the other slayers and seeing if they were okay, Dilandau ordered that they move out. Jadera was talking to Miguel through a private line.  
"That was really good Jaden! You actually got Lord Dilandau! I'll bet even Guimel respects you know." Miguel said.  
"Hn. That was nothing but timing and you know it. That wasn't anything special." Jadera said offhandedly.  
"Aww, come on Jaden! You know that Lord Dilandau probably favors you by now... you really beat him in that duel, and went through the training effortlessly, and now in guymelef combat... you're really skilled Jaden!" Chesta joined enthusiastically.   
"Yeah, and you know what? I think you may become his second Jaden! You're almost as good as Lord Dilandau is, you know." Gatti said.  
Inside the cockpit of her guymelef, Jadera blushed with all the praise she was getting, but said,  
"You guys know it's nothing, just hard work and practice. Besides, Miguel, with all the hard work you've done I think /you/ may be second. Gatti, you're really good too, and Chesta, you know you just need some more practice."   
"Well, whatever Jaden but-" Miguel was cut off by the sound of a land dragon roaring.  
"It's a dragon." Chesta said in a hushed voice.  
"Come on, guys, you know we could each beat a dragon with one hand tied behind our backs," Jadera said.   
"Yeah," Gatti said in a voice that showed his doubt. They stopped, silent.   
"Good luck, everyone." Chesta said.  
  
Jadera crept through the trees, hunting a land dragon that she'd sighted earlier. From what she could piece together, it was a halfling, almost full grown.  
"Just my luck," she grumbled. ...At least it's not a full grown male... she thought. She could tell that she was getting closer, as she began to catch a few glimpses of it through the trees. ...Man, that thing moves fast...  
The halfling suddenly seemed to disapear, and Jadera slowed down warily. She slowly entered the clearing she last saw it in. Across from her, was a cave. Heavy breathing could be heard from inside, and Jadera caught the flash of an eye. Slowly, she drew her sword. ...No time for mistakes...  
With a roar, the halfling burst out of the cave, and charged her. Nimbly, she jumped her right into an army roll and quickly using the momentem to bring herslef to her feet. She widened her eyes as she was face with the sharp tail coming towards her. Leaping backwards, she ran to the left, feinted a dodge to the right as a claw swiped at her and ran underneath the halfling's forearm. Quickly, she struck with her sword, scoring a hit on it's side. The beast roared in pain. Hissing, it advanced on her as she stood there, a little amazed that she'd been able to actually /hit/ it...   
"SHIT!" she exclaimed as she realized her fatal mistake. Cursing under her breath, she barely missed being bitten in two as she fell on her back, rolling away from it's deadly fangs. Standing up, Jadera noticed that it wasn't doing anything... just sitting there... with it's chest glowing red...   
"Shimatta..." her eyes growing wide, she threw herself to the side just in time to escape being charbroiled by it's hot firery(sp?) breath.  
"K'so," she cursed yet again, standing up. Looking at the dragon, she grumbled, "you are /really/ starting to annoy me..."  
As the dragon had used energy for the blast, she easily ducked between it's claws and sliced her sword into it's chest, between the lungs. Slicing upwards, she opened the layers of tissue and skin and reached her hand in to remove it's heart. The dragon seemed to whimper in pain as her hand probed inside, searching for it's energist.  
"Aha!" Jadera said in triumph as her gloved hand touched something hard. Closing her hand around it, she pulled it out. At once the dragon started to dissolve. In a minute, there was nothing left of it, except for the softly glowing stone in her hand. Standing in the clearing, she studied the stone.  
...My first dragon...   
"I actually killed it," she said softly, awed.  
  
Miguel was having an interesting time. After managing to successfully kill his first dragon, he stood a little awed, staring at the energist. However -and unfortunately for him, at that exact moment the dragon's mate arrived. Roaring in anger, it advanced on the one thing in the clearing it could take it's anger out on: Miguel. Tired from the first battle, he knew he couldn't do it alone. Growling out a few cursing and choice swear words under his breath, he ran. Fortunately for him, the dragon was somewhat slowed down by the trees. UNfortunately however, the dragon's huge size was easily crushing and snapping the trees as though they were nothing but twigs. In his flight, only looking back to check how the dragon was gaining, he didn't check in front of him, and ran right into someone, knocking the both of them over.  
"Nande k'so?!" was what he could make out from the surprised person as he ploughed into him, knocking both of them over into a confused tangle of appendages. They both untangled themselves quickly, and stood up. Miguel glanced at who he'd knocked over quickly before checking over his shoulder for the dragon. Wait a sec...  
"Miguel? What are you doing here, running into me like that you baka!" Jaden said in an annoyed tone. Snapping his head round, he stared at him, eyes slighty wide.  
"Miguel? What in the dragon's name are you doing?" Jadera asked, annoyed. ...What is he doing, staring at me like that... wait a sec... it's more like at something /behind/ me... Carefully, she looked over her shoudler, to see an enraged dragon, powering up for a fire blast. Thinking quickly, she launched herself in the air, pulling Miguel down with her. They rolled to the side, as the patch of ground where they were standing a few seconds ago burst into flame.  
"Damnit... we'll have to fight it together... Miguel, you get it's attention! Distract it for me so I can get close to it and get it's energist, okay?" Jadera said quickly, getting off him. Not waiting for his reply, she dashed off into the shelter of the trees, leaving Miguel there. ...Hope he knows what to do...  
  
Miguel was /not/ having a good time. This dragon was extremely pissed at him killing it's mate, and seemed to be throwing everything it had at him. As it was swiping some of the nearby trees down, he could only run and dodge, faintly recalling some of the obstacle courses he'd been forced to go through as part of his training. Stopping to catch his breath, he panted slightly as the dragon paused, a red glow forming in it's chest area. Quickly, he dove to his right, and just missed getting burned to death as the fire struck the spot he was just standing. Almost before he could see, he heard the dragon roar loudly in pain. Getting up, he saw Jaden already there, with his sword slicing into the dragon's breast. Reaching his arm into it's chest, he triumhantly pulled out it's energist. Sweating, with bruises all over from all the landings he'd made from his dodging, Miguel made his way over to Jaden. Noticing his friend in pain, Jaden turned to him and asked,  
"Are you okay?" Miguel nodded.  
"Yeah, just fine." Jaden turned back to the energist in his hand, then pulled another from the pouch at his side.  
"I already have one, so you take this one," he said, giving the energist to Miguel. Miguel reached into a similar pouch at /his/ side and also pulled out an energist.  
"I already have one. That dragon was the mate of the one I killed." he said.  
Each boy stared at each other, a dilemma on their hands. Who was going to keep the second energist?  
  
After much arguing, punctuated by,  
"/YOU/ keep it!" and,  
"NO, /YOU/ keep it!", Jaden finally shoved the energist at Miguel, saying,  
"If it wasn't for you, that dragon would have never come so you take it, or we'll both leave it here to be picked up or something." Turning, he began to walk away. Miguel knew that the arguement was over, and that he had lost. He was to take the second energist. Sighing, he looked after the retreating back of his friend, and softly said,  
"But if it weren't for you, that dragon wouldn't be dead."  
  
  
  
  
Well... anyone like that? *sigh*... anyways, there may be some spelling and /or grammatical errors, but I dun have spell check anymore 'cuz I started writing on notepad, so excuse and try to ignore them. Anyways, so, how did you like that?  
-reb 


End file.
